Her Lone Waltz
by lovelystarz
Summary: Seraphina was the sole survivor of the twelve dancing princess, her sisters forever lost due to a great evil committed in the name of peace. The guilt of what happened that night forever haunts Seraphina, but that wasn't her biggest problem. She was stuck in the cursed town of Storybrooke with her memories all in tact. Her only companion? The Mad Hatter
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time in kingdom named Elysium, there was an old king who had twelve daughters that he adored more than life itself, each daughter was as unique as the next and known throughout the lands as The Twelve Princesses of Elysium. However the princesses were not all that they seemed as they were different from other princesses. All twelve sisters were united not only by their blood but by their mission to protect Elysium from all outside threats and guard the Heart of Elysium; a great power in which the royal family had been entrusted to keep. King Octavius dotted upon his children as any loving father would, giving his daughters everything that they wanted and more. But there was something deeply troubling the king, every night his daughters went to bed in the large room that they shared and all were the locked up for the night to ease the old king's worrying mind. However every morning the shoes of the king's twelve daughters were found to be completely worn out as if the twelve princesses had been out dancing all night. Nobody could quite figure out how it had happened, since the princesses' were secularly locked in their bedroom every night. Desperate to find out what was happening, the old King Octavius declared that whomsoever found out the secret of the twelve princesses and their dancing shoes, could take one of his daughter's for a bride and become the next King of Elysium after his death.

Many brave men tried to find out the secret of the twelve dancing princesses but all who searched in vain for the truth failed as the secret of the Elysium princesses wasn't something that was deeply hidden in the depths of the shadows. It was so much worse than what you could possibly imagine, as Seraphina the king's youngest daughter knew for herself as the only surviving dancing princess.

* * *

 _The night was burning. A blood moon hung in the air that seemed to match the blood that had been spilt on the ground, people were screaming, bodies were scattered everywhere amongst all the chaos. Instead of running away from the horrors that were occurring Princess Seraphina was running towards it but it wasn't an easy task for her to do given the palace was under attack and she was having to duck and dodge pieces of falling rubble as the walls of the palace crumbled under the attack. Seraphina had suspected something like this would happen, that the dark times would finally make it's way to her father's kingdom but she never suspected it would come so soon. Seraphina thought she had time, they all thought that they would have more time before the witch Kohana made good on her promise to destroy the kingdom of Elysium. Long gone were the nights that Seraphina and her eleven older sisters would sneak out of the palace through a trap door and make their way through the tunnels under the palace and run through the woods laughing with joy and mischief until they reached the door that would take them to the Ever Woods, the place where they would dance all night until their shoes had become too worn to ever be worn again. Those were the nights before the evil had snuck in and destroyed all the happiness that Seraphina had once known. Or so Seraphina had thought but in reality all those nights of sneaking out to dance were so much more than the twelve princesses of Elsyium sneaking out to have a bit of fun. Kohana had been behind it all, she had used her dark magic to create the Ever Woods and used her powers to lure the twelve princess' into her world of illusion and darkness where she slowly began to use her influence to corrupt Seraphina and her sisters in order to have them fulfil her dark plans. At the time it all seemed harmless, Seraphina and her sisters would sneak out of the palace and go to a place full of golden wonders where they could dance all night with charming men and then sneak back to the palace before anyone could figure out they were gone._

 _They had never seen it coming, they had all been so unaware of what was coming, thinking that if and when Kohana would attack it would be a direct attack to the palace and not a more slower approach to take over the kingdom. They had been the ones responsible for bringing darkness to the palace that they had sworn to protect. Seraphina and her sisters weren't like most princesses, they didn't spend all their time wearing fancy gowns and attending balls to find a prince to marry them. They were princesses by birth but their roles were that of no ordinary princesses. They had different responsibilities and each of them had been reckless and stupidly naive, neglected their duties and Seraphina could see that now as she watched what used to be her sisters destroy everything they had one knew, all the happy times that had shared, the place in which they had grown up together all thanks to Kohana's dark influence. Kohana; the witch who had sworn revenge on King Octavius and she had taken her time in doing so with a plot that dated back almost twenty years. Kohana had planned on taking everything that had mattered to Octavius, his wife, his children and now his kingdom by using his daughters to do her bidding._

 _Kohana had attacked Elysium with a vengeance, using what had been the eleven of the twelve princesses of Elysium to bring the horror and destruction to what had been a peaceful kingdom. Seraphina's sisters were gone, the souls of her eleven warrior sisters no longer existed, they had been corrupted beyond saving and in their place was Kohana's shadow warriors who were mercilessly killing those around them without even batting an eyelid. Seraphina had been the lucky one, she had somehow been more resistant to Kohana's manipulation and managed to escape unlike her sisters who had become corrupted under the witch's dark influence. The eleven sisters that Seraphina once held dear to herself were no longer there, instead they were the dark warriors of Kohana and whilst they still looked like the sisters that Seraphina once knew, their eyes of were all pitch, reflecting the colour of their dark hearts and corrupted souls._

 _"PAPA!" Seraphina screamed as the top of her lungs as she continued to run through the palace as it's walls continued to crumble, as she ran Seraphina couldn't help but take notice of those who were injured and the dead who were littering the halls of the palace. Those who were still alive for now, were begging her for help but Seraphina couldn't stop, she had to keep going as she needed to find her father. Once she found her father, Seraphina was certain that he could save all of them with the Heart of Elysium as whilst Seraphina and her sisters had been the guardians of Elysium, it was her father King Octavius who had the real power to save them all. He had the Heart of Elysium; a crystal of great power and it had been under the protection of the royal family for as long as Elysium had been standing._

 _Seraphina kept calling out for her father, screaming as loud as she could in hopes that he would be able to hear her but it was pretty hard to hear anything given the roaring sound of crumbling stone and the desperate screams of innocent people being harmed. But there was nothing she could so, Seraphina just had to keep looking for her father however she was starting to tire out, her lungs felt like they were on fire. But she couldn't give up, not whilst they were all still in danger. Running through the hallways of the palace, Seraphina took a sharp left down the end of one hall and ran towards the ballroom, well it wasn't much of a ballroom anymore given that most of it had collapsed. There was rubble everywhere, the air was thick with dust and there were small fires scattered across the vast ballroom. But sure enough there was Seraphina's father strewn across the ballroom under a pile off rubble, with only his upper body and left leg visible. Running to his side, Seraphina immediately went about pulling the rubble off her father but straight away she could see that her father was seriously injured. He had been impaled by a chandelier and the wound was serious._

 _"S-Seraphina… Is that really you?" Octavius asked in a weary voice and Seraphina nodded her head in a furious manner as she pulled her father into her arms._

 _"I-I'm so sorry papa! This is all our fault! I'm so sorry papa! W-We didn't know this would happen, we only thought t-that the dancing was a bit of f-fun… W-We had no i-idea this would happen." Seraphina wailed as all of this chaos around them was her fault, she should have known better, she should have been better. Seraphina was supposed to be one of the twelve guardian protectors of Elysium, it was her job to defend this land but it had been her foolish actions that had brought the darkness here. They hadn't thought it through. All of them had just wanted to be regular girls and have some fun, they hadn't realized that by sneaking off out of the palace night after night would have such serious consequences._

 _"T-This was not your fault my d-dearest daughter, y-you and your s-sisters have done nothing wrong."_

 _"Everything is going to be okay, you're going to be okay." Seraphina replied in a reassuring manner, willing herself not to start crying because she knew that if she wouldn't stop crying. Her heart was breaking over the dire situation that they were all in. Her home was crumbling around all around, Elysium was on the verge of being destroyed and her family was falling apart. Today was without a doubt the darkest day in Elysium's history._

 _"N-No I won't, my time is this world is coming to an end." Octavius replied in a quiet manner and Seraphina ruefully shook her head as she didn't believe that, her father was the strongest man she knew and he often joked that he would be sitting on the throne until he was a hundred and ten years old. He wouldn't die so easily, not now when Seraphina and the whole of Elysium needed him most._

 _"Don't say that, you just need to use the Heart of Elysium and everything will be okay again. You'll be okay and so will the kingdom and we can save Lucinda, Violetta and the others, then defeat Kohana once and for all." Seraphina interrupted, not wanting to hear such talk from her father, he wasn't going to die on her, there was too much at stake and she needed him to use the Heart of Elysium to save them all._

 _"I can't do that Sera…" Octavius said and Seraphina didn't understand why her father was refusing to help, refusing to save them all when he had something that would save them all and return everything to how it was. Seraphina didn't understand what she was missing here, why was her refusing to help to save their kingdom._

 _"Yes you can papa! You always said that in time of danger that the Heart of Elysium would protect us. That if we were ever in trouble that the Heart of Elysium would save us or was that just a lie papa?!" Seraphina angrily demanded, pretty much on the verge of full blown tears. She wanted all of this to be over, she wanted the dark times to be over and her sisters to be themselves again. This whole thing was turning into a nightmare than never wanted to end._

 _"It's not because I don't want to, it's because I can't… I don't have the strength to do what is needed to save us. The Heart of Elysium is not an object Seraphina but rather a person, it is the title given to the keeper of the Elysium Crystal. My time as keeper of the Heart of Elysium is coming to an end and I must pass my title and the crystal on to it's next guardian if we are ever to regain our peace." Ocatvius announced as and Seraphina was stunned as this was news to her, she had always been led to believed that the Heart of Elysium was the light blue pointed crystal that her father kept attacked on a chain around his neck. Seraphina couldn't believe for as long as she could remember, she and her sisters had been told that the stone around her father's neck had the capabilities of destroying kingdoms if let into the wrong hand and as such, as one of the princesses of Elysium, Seraphina was supposed to protect the Heart of Elysium which was supposedly Seraphina's father._

 _"Papa, I d-don't understand." Seraphina stammered, briefly looking over her shoulder to where the chaos was still going on outside. The night was burning along with the rest of Elysium. Her father was dying and the kingdom was about to be forever destroyed._

 _"It's you Seraphina, y-you will become the next Heart of Elysium… You must save us all." Octavius replied as he pulled the chain that held Elysium Crystal from his neck and placed it into Seraphina's hand and all she could do was dumbly stare at it. Seraphina wasn't sure what she was supposed to do it, she had only seen her father use the crystal a handful of times. But that didn't mean she knew what to do with it._

 _"Papa, I can't…" Seraphina stammered._

 _"Seraphina, you can… See? The crystal is already acknowledging you as it's new keeper. Octavius replied with a weak smile and Seraphina looked down into her hand and much to her surprise the crystal started glowing a serene like blue/white colour and it made Seraphina's hand feel all warm and fuzzy. Seraphina could only watch as the crystal rose out of her hand, it rose until it was at eye level with Seraphina, it continued to pulsate, the light kept getting brighter and brighter until the light seemed to burst and the crystal evolved right in front of Seraphina's own eyes. No longer the pointed blue crystal that her father kept around his neck, but rather a pink orb, roughly the same size as a gold coin. It was unlike anything Seraphina had ever seen before and the orb settled itself in her hand, like it belonged there. "You are now the Heart of Elysium and with that you have the power to save Elysium. The crystal now follows you Seraphina, it follows the heart of she who would become queen, so take the Elysium Crystal and release the great power of Elysium and bring peace once more to our kingdom."_

 _"If I can save us all then why are you so sad papa?" Seraphina questioned as she couldn't help but notice that her father was crying which was unusual. Not once in her entire life had Seraphina seen her father shed a single tear let alone cry, something had to be really wrong for him to be crying._

 _"Because you must make a great sacrifice if you want to save our kingdom. There is always a price with magic S-Seraphina and you must pay a great price if we are to regain our peace. You must defeat Kohana, trapping her with the Elysium Crystal is not merely enough as she cannot be given the chance to escape, you must go a step beyond that and destroy her Seraphina. But by doing that you'll never be able to see your sisters again, if you destroy Kohana then you'll destroy your sisters as well." Octavius said, his voice soft and tinged with such sadness. It wasn't hard for Seraphina to understand as they were in the ruins of what was formally her home and in her arms was her father who on the verge of death, unable to do anything but watch as most of the children he loved so dearly destroy evening around them. King Ocatvius was a broken man, slowly dying and his kingdom was forever destroyed. Deep in her heart Seraphina wished her father dead already so he wouldn't have had to witness this all. The night was burning bright with the flames and destruction of the carnage that had engulfed the kingdom. Now Octavius was asking Seraphina to destroy her own siblings, he wanted her to destroy Vega, Eleadora, Corin, Magellan, Oona, Violetta, Lucinda, Freya, Aina, Primrose, Zosia, her eleven sisters. The sisters she had spent pretty much everyday of her life with, the most important people in her life._

 _"No papa, I c-can't not… There must be another way." Seraphina stammered as it was incomprehensive what her father was suggesting._

 _"It is the only way for us to regain our peace, your sisters are no longer your sisters… I wish there was another way but there is not. Seraphina you must believe in your own power, the fact that you could not be swayed to the dark side by Nerissa shows the path that you must take to become queen. You must be strong, great and irreplaceable so that our people can always depend on you. I leave E-Elysium in your hands m-my Seraphina, you can do this, I k-know you can, you must have f-faith in yourself as the H-Heart of E-Elysium… " Octavius chocked out and by now the tears had started falling down Seraphina's face and she could merely watch as her father eyes shut off his own accord and finally succumb to his injuries. Her heart was broken, Seraphina could feel the grief clawing over her threatening to destroy her at the loss of her beloved father. Now she was all alone in the world._

 _But she couldn't stay here and grieve for her dead father, she couldn't give him a proper goodbye as all around her the nightmare was still continuing. The king was dead and Elysium was still falling and the casualties would continue to rise unless Seraphina tried to stop it. However, that meant doing something so terrible that she couldn't bare to even think about it but deep down Seraphina knew that she needed to commit such a necessary evil to save everyone one else. To stop her sisters and Kohana._

 _Seraphina slowly walked through what remained of her father's palace with a heavy heart, she so wanted to fall apart and hide like the scared little child that she felt she was. All of this was way too much and Seraphina just wanted to run and get somebody else to deal with this but her father was gone, her sisters were part of the problem. There was no one that she could turn to, she had to deal with this herself. Everyone else was counting on her so Seraphina had to win, she couldn't afford to be afraid. Seraphina made her way to the outside of the palace where she found Kohana who was standing amid all the chaos, she was dressed in an elaborate gown that was blood red in colour, like it was supposed to match the blood of all her victims. She looked half mad, a twisted expression of glee on her face as the screams got louder and the flames of everything around her got bigger. Her hair matted and wild, almost looking like a birds nest but that wasn't what worried Seraphina the most, it was the calm look in Kohana's eyes. Despite all the madness, Kohana's dark blues eyes didn't seem to reflect the madness that was on the outside._

 _"Well if it isn't the littlest princess of them all! Pitiful Princess Seraphina, the one who managed to get away but that no longer matters anymore as Elysium is now mine! All mine to control!" Kohana sneered and it unnerved Seraphina about how calm the witch was. Seraphina's world was literally crumbling at her feet and the woman who was responsible was calm and collected, seemingly unnerved at all the destruction that she had caused._

 _"I cannot let you win this one you terrible witch, too many people are counting on me. My kingdom is counting on me…" Seraphina uttered, trying to sound as determined as she possible could, trying her hardest to not let her grief and sorrow show in her voice. She needed to be strong right now._

 _"Ha! You stop me? Silly little Seraphina you don't have the power to stop me! You are no match for me! You won't hurt me child, the spell I've cast links me to those naive sisters of yours and you won't harm me if that means hurting them. You don't have such darkness in your heart!" Kohana cackled, laughing loudly and Seraphina said nothing, she wouldn't let Kohana's taunts get to her. Taking a deep breath Seraphina told herself that she could do this, no matter how scared she was, she could do this. She was Princess Seraphina, the Heart of Elysium and she had to protect her kingdom. More importantly Seraphina needed to believe in herself, if she couldn't save her sisters then she would sure as hell avenge them._

 _"Forgive me my dear sisters, for what I must do but I know that we will meet again in the next life." Seraphina quietly said before holding both her hands out before her and much to her surprise the Elysium crystal began to glow and within her Seraphina felt something that she had never felt before. She felt strong, somehow so sure of herself and no longer as weak and tired as she previously felt. The crystal hovered between her hands and Seraphina braced herself for what was coming next._

 _Immediately Kohana reacted casting her magic back towards Seraphina and there was a loud clash as their individual magic collided, the pink colour that the Elysium crystal emitted and the black colour that Kohana's magic emitted. There was so much force, so much pressure and Seraphina was struggling to hold on, she had no clue what she was doing or even how she was doing this. It had to be the power of the crystal, which somehow was her. This didn't feel real in the slightest, but this was real. People's lives were at stake. More people were going to die if Seraphina didn't win this battle and she wasn't sure that she could, Kohana was so much stronger than her in pretty much every way. She had managed to lure twelve young women into a fantasy world she had created, slowly corrupt them over the period of six months until all but one had strayed off the path of goodness and into the arms of darkness. Seraphina thought of her dead father, her heart simply ached at the thought of never seeing Octavius, her sweet papa ever again. Not to mention her sisters; Aina, Vega, Eleadora, Magellan, Primrose, Violetta, Zoisa, Freya, Oona Lucinda and Corin. Her sisters had all been taken from her, corrupted with such evil and darkness within them that they were lost forever. There was no coming back from that. There was no light to be found within them anymore. All was lost. Seraphina had lost everyone that she had every lost, her entire family was gone, she wasn't sure if she couldn't fight with her full strength and do what was needed of her. The grief was too raw, it was like Seraphina could feel it squeezing her so tight that she could no longer breathe. The pain was all too much for Seaphina as she continued to fight Kohana with what little strength she had left. The sound of their powers colliding was loud, like thunder rumbling above the sound of clashing swords. What little remained of the Elysium palace were shattering all around her._

 _"You will not destroy me child!" Kohana roared and it seemed like everything was shaking in her quake, Seraphina knew that she needed to believe in herself, believe that she could do this, not just for herself, but for the people of Elysium, her dead father and most of all her sisters. She would not lose them in vain. Seraphina needed to use what little remained of her energy to channel it into the Elysium crystal as she needed to follow her father's instructions and release the great power of Elysium and if she died using all of that power, than so be it. At least she would be with her family again. Concentrating her magic on Kohana, Seraphina focused as hard as she could, trying to channel her grief and anger into her magic instead of letting it take over her. A small part of her could feel her magic growing stronger and stronger until there was this huge explosion, Seraphina hadn't seen where it come from but it was strong and had sent her flying off her feet. The rumble of her former home to seem break Seraphina's fall, what pain she had in her side was perhaps a mere sign that things could have been worse. Seraphina was certain that she wasn't dead, she felt very much alive for the first time in a while._

 _Getting to her feet, Seraphina couldn't help but notice the silence, it was a dead silence and her thoughts somehow seemed incredibly loud. She forced herself to walk ahead, trying to find a clue as to what had happened but for the most part she could only see the rubble from the palace. There was nothing. Until she came across a staff lying in the ground; Kohana's staff. It could only mean one thing. It was done. Kohana was gone as were her sisters, Elysium had regained it's peace and now Seraphina had to leave. She could not remain here, she could stay here and be queen knowing full well that she had done and the role she had in spilling the blood. Seraphina forced herself to look at the moon, no longer a blood moon but a clear and white as it was supposed to be and just looking at it made her want to cry. The nightmare was over, but for Seraphina it was only beginning._

 _"Goodbye Elysium, you are in my heart always."_

* * *

 _Pang!_ Seraphina's eyes opened from her previously deep slumber and she sat up in bed, gasping for air as she was currently having a lot of difficulty breathing and struggling to catch her breath. She was soaked with sweat, her pyjamas were practically sticking to her body and the bed sheets felt heavy and uncomfortable against her skin. This was not how Seraphina had been planning on starting her day. Her head was spinning and she had the urge to be sick but Seraphina knew that even if she tried to throw up, nothing would come up as thinking about that night or even just dreaming about it, always left this hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. For Seraphina there was no escaping from that terrible night, it haunted her day and night, never letting her be able to forget what she did that night and how she lost her entire family in the space of that night. It was a nightmare that refused to go away and Seraphina had to live with it for the rest of her life as it was her burden to bare, the price that she had to pay for using magic. There was always a price with magic. Seraphina took a deep breath before wearily rubbing her eyes, despite the fact that she had woken up, she felt exhausted and like she had barely slept at all. She wondered if that was true, that she hadn't really slept but instead just shut her eyes and relived that night all over in her head. Seraphina so desperately wanted to go back to sleep but a part of her was afraid of what she might see if she allowed herself to fall back asleep again. Too caught up in her own thoughts Seraphina wasn't aware that she had company until she felt a shift of weight on the bed and looking ahead she saw a familiar face sitting at the end of her side of the bed with a concerned look on her face.

"You had the dream again, didn't you?" Jefferson questioned and Seraphina awkwardly tried her best to avoid Jefferson's blue eyes so he couldn't see it in her eyes before she allowed the lie to come out of her mouth. Seraphina tried to avoid lying first thing in the morning but sometimes it was necessary more for Jefferson's sake then her own. She didn't like making him worry as he had enough on his place without worrying about her having nightmares.

"It's no big deal, everybody dreams Jefferson." Seraphina replied with a small shrug of her shoulder before looking at the man who she would probably refer to as her partner. The two of them had managed to find each other despite being caught in the nightmare that was Storybrooke; a small town in Maine that was anything but ordinary. Every single person in Stroybrooke except one wasn't from this land, this land without magic as they came from a different world, a world filled with magic until they were brought here by a dark curse cast by the Evil Queen Regina. The people in this town were pretty much frozen in time, no one who had been brought here had aged in the 28 years that they had been here. Nobody knew that they were here. Except for Seraphina and Jefferson, they were the only two in Storybrooke who still had their memories of their real lives apart from Regina, who had no doubt kept hers since she was the one who had cast the dark curse in the first place. Using magic came with a price and in Seraphina's case it came with a steep price, not only had she lost her entire family but she was forced to live with the memories of what she did with no escape from them. Seraphina had been prepared to live with that, she had understood that there was a price to pay given that she had committed an act of great evil to save her kingdom. But things had got a bit more complicated as Seraphina had ended up in town called Storybrooke, she had never intended to end up here as she had been 'content' in some way in living a nomadic life wondering the enchanted forest in an attempt to pay penance for what she had done. In this town, most of the other people from her world lived new and different lives. Seraphina, however didn't have that luxury and was forced to live a life here, all whilst remembering her former life and being forced to live in this land without magic for 28 years whilst everyone else was completely oblivious and living in some fake reality that Regina had placed them in was quite the punishment. Seraphina wasn't exactly sure why Jefferson had his memories but she was glad for the company. The two of them had never crossed paths before they came to this world but since they had come here, they had come together and since then Seraphina hadn't had a lonely day. Her heart ached a little less with Jefferson by her side,

"You don't dream Seraphina, at least not anymore… You sleep for a few hours at a time, sometimes you don't sleep at all but you don't dream Sera. You haven't had a dream for fifteen years until today." Jefferson couldn't help but point out but not in a 'I told you so' manner but more in a worried manner and Seraphina couldn't help but sigh. Sometimes Seraphina had wished that she had never opened her mouth, never told Jefferson about who she was and what she had done. When the two of them found each other in the first few months after the curse took place, Seraphina should have told him a lie. But she hadn't. The two of them had spent countless hours telling each other about their respective lives before they came here, Jefferson told her of his life as a thief and a portal jumper, as well of his family which included his late wife Priscilla and their daughter Grace. He had spoken of after his wife had died, he had become a mushroom seller to provide for his child before Regina had found him and asked him to do a job. Jefferson's story spoke of adventures in the land of Wonderland and how the Queen of Hearts had cut of his head – leaving him with the scar on his neck before forcing him to continually make new hats to which he could jump through each with zero results. That had been his life right up until he had wound up here. It was a far cry from the life Seraphina had led as one of the twelve princesses of Elysium. Seraphina had told Jefferson everything, how she and her sisters were tricked by Kohana, the nights they would sneak away to dance whilst slowly being corrupted by the witch, how Elysium had fallen and how she had destroyed everything she had loved in order to save her kingdom. Seraphina didn't go into much detail about what she did after that night or where she went after she left Elysium.

"I'm fine, it's just a nightmare… It can't hurt me anymore." Seraphina said with a forced smile, all whilst wondering if she could really call it a nightmare given that it was something that she experienced before, she had lived that night a long time ago and it was as real to her now as it had been that entire night. Despite saying the words Seraphina didn't believe that and she knew that Jefferson didn't believe it either. The two of them had pretty much been together for the last 28 years, they knew each other's habits better than they knew themselves.

"I tried waking you up when I realized what was happening, but you know what your like when you dream. No matter what I did, you wouldn't wake up until it was over." Jefferson replied with a small sigh and Seraphina climbed out from under the covers of the bed that she had shared with Jefferson and crawled over to him. He looked exhausted, the crescent moon shaped bags were more apparent under his eyes than normal. No doubt whilst she had been dreaming of the day Elysium had fallen, Jefferson had been up all night with insomnia, thinking of his daughter who was so close yet so far away. Grace or Paige as she was known in this world, wasn't with her father like she was supposed to, instead she lived next door with a family who she believed were hers but in reality they were just a part of the curse and the false memories that it gave to everyone under it. Grace was unaware that her real father was her neighbour and Jefferson was forced to watch his daughter live a life without him. Seraphina wasn't sure who had it worse.

"You look terrible." Seraphina noted as she lifted her hand and gently brushed her thumbs against Jefferson's cheek. Despite the fact that Seraphina and Jefferson had come from two different worlds, one thing they had in common was the bizarre sleeping habits they kept. They didn't function like regular people, most of the time they barely slept because they had things on their minds, for Seraphina it was her guilt and for Jefferson it was his daughter. Insomnia seemed to follow the two of them around constantly.

"As opposed to mad?" Jefferson quipped, offering Seraphina a small smile which caused her to grin as there were very few things for them to smile about in their grim situation.

"Is that a joke? Are you pulling a funny Jefferson because you were known as the Mad Hatter?" Seraphina asked taking a few seconds to enjoy this moment as she fully well knew that this wasn't going to last. It never did. Both Seraphina and Jefferson were too messed up in some ways to ever fully function properly. Jefferson was obsessed with finding a way to break this curse, looking for loopholes and ways for to be reunited with his daughter and go home whilst Seraphina just didn't know what she was doing. All she knew was that she did not want to be involved with magic.

"Perhaps." Jefferson replied with a small purse of his lips and Seraphina smiled as this was one of the rare times that they could just be Jefferson and Seraphina instead of the Mad Hatter and Princess Seraphina. Right here in this moment, there was nothing else. It was like they were in a little bubble and nothing could get in. "I should probably get back downstairs, back to work…"

"Do you have to? Perhaps today you could just take it easy and get some rest, you looked exhausted Jefferson." Seraphina tentatively began as she knew where this would go if she wasn't careful, her and Jefferson had countless arguments about this over the last 28 years and given that large timeframe Seraphina had lost count of how many time she and Jefferson had argued about this. It was definitely a lot.

"I can't do that, you know that I can't do that Seraphina… That's like asking me to give up on her and I won't. I won't give up on Grace, I can't." Jefferson said pulling away from Seraphina's embrace and standing up from where he was sitting on the bed.

"I wasn't asking you to give up on Grace, I was asking you to stop for a second to take care of yourself, to take the initiative to keep yourself healthy instead of me having to always remind you. Taking care of yourself does not meaning giving up Jefferson. Grace wouldn't want you to live this way. Staying up all night in that room, working non-stop on hats mumbling to yourself about making it work, hoping that this time you'll succeed. It's not healthy Jefferson, you must know that… The headaches that you get because of all those late nights, the weeks of insomnia and almost killing yourself to try and find a new way to get out of this town when we both know that we are bound here by the magic that cursed us." Seraphina stated in a soft manner as Jefferson was getting defensive, no doubt thinking that she as asking on him to give up on his daughter which is something she would never ask him to do. Never in a million years, or the twenty eight years that they had been stuck like this would Seraphina ever ask Jefferson to give up on Grace. She did not have the authority to ask that of him. She wasn't his wife, she wasn't anything like that. She was just Seraphina, nothing more and nothing less.

"How can you say that Sera? If we don't believe in magic being able to save us then how are we expected to succeed? You're the Heart of Elysium! Surely you know better than anyone the power of believing."

"I did believe. I spent my entire life believing in magic, believing that the Heart had this incredible power and could save entire kingdoms or destroy them! I believed that the Heart could protect us all and it didn't. I didn't protect my kingdom, I did the opposite of that! I led Elysium to it's destruction. I allowed myself to be swayed by some witch allowing her to take what she needed to conquer my kingdom. She took my sisters, she killed my father and I didn't do anything, I'm supposed to be the all powerful Heart of Elysium and I let that all happen. I was a disappointment. I tried to believe, I did and that got me nowhere and I couldn't save them all Jefferson. I killed twelve people to save what little remained of Elysium. I did that, so tell me again what is so good about me being the Heart of Elysium? It didn't help me to save my family, it certainly didn't help to prevent this curse from happening. Nothing good came of me being the Heart of Elysium or having the Elysium crystal and it won't help us now especially when we are in a land with no magic!" Seraphina snapped unable to contain herself anymore, climbing up off the bed so that she could have this conversation or rather argument as it was turning to, with Jefferson on level footing.

"You may not be able to believe in magic anymore but I have to believe Seraphina, Grace is my daughter. You wouldn't understand…" Jefferson said and Seraphina was slightly taken aback as she couldn't believe that he had just played that card. It was like a slap to the face for Seraphina. She was pretty sure that somewhere in between all that silence was the sound of her heart breaking.

"You think I don't understand hope? Trying to believe in some greater power in order to save someone you love? I understand Jefferson better than most people. I understand but at least you get to see Grace, even though you she can't remember you Jefferson, you have something to deal with the pain of what we live with. We don't live in ignorant bliss like everyone else outside these walls, we know the truth. But you get to watch Grace; see her laugh and smile whereas I have nothing, I don't have anyone as my family is gone. My father died and I had to kill my sisters. I have no one! I am completely alone in this world!"

"Seraphina…" Jefferson began attempting to take a step towards her but Seraphina motioned for him not to come towards her as she struggled to keep her composure together.

"All I was trying to say was that keeping the people you care about close and showering them with displays of affection aren't the only ways to display love, quietly watching from a far is a way to show love. You not being by her side doesn't mean you don't care or that you don't love her Jefferson, you can love her from a distance but to do that you need to take better care of yourself. You're no help to Grace if you are on the brink of collapsing, that's all. I never want you to give up on her. Never…" Seraphina quietly began awkwardly looking away before deciding that she needed to get out of here. Seraphina would have all but sprinted out of the bedroom and out of the house if it wasn't for the fact that she was in pajamas that were soaked with sweat. Not to mention Jefferson was sort of standing in her way. She couldn't go past him so Seraphina decided to go round him and so she climbed over the bed and went through the door in their bedroom to the bathroom, locking the door behind her before rummaging through the laundry basket for clothes to put on.

"Seraphina? Sera… I didn't mean to say that, I didn't mean to make out like you don't care or understand because I know you do. Just like I know that I wouldn't have managed to survive these last 28 years without losing my mind if it wasn't for you. You keep me sane. You keep the Mad Hatter sane, which is something… Finding you in the midst of this chaos that is this curse is something I never expected to find. Everything we have and we have shared means a lot to me Seraphina, you mean a lot to me. I want you to know that you are not alone. I never want you to think that your alone again because you have me and always will." Jefferson called out, knocking on the door for good measure but Seraphina didn't respond, she was too busy pulling on yesterday's jeans and sniffing a t-shirt to see if it was clean enough to wear. She wouldn't have this problem if she went back into the bedroom and got clean clothes out of the closet but that meant seeing Jefferson and Seraphina was worried that her face would give away what was going on in her head. She couldn't deal with this right now. She was too upset. That nightmare had messed with her head and this stupid argument with Jefferson was just making things worse. Once she had reasonably clean clothes on, Seraphina scrapped her brunette hair back into a ponytail and took a deep breath before she opened the bathroom door. She knew that Jefferson was going to be there waiting for her. Naturally she was right, Seraphina opened the door and like she had expected Jefferson had been waiting for her.

"It's fine, I'm fine Jefferson… So you know what? Just get back to work and do whatever you need to do, I need to clear my head so I'm going to head out to town and pick up some groceries whilst I'm out." Seraphina said interrupting Jefferson before he had a chance to say anything and she quickly slipped past him. She had given him a lame ass excuse which wasn't nice but Seraphina knew they would be fine eventually. When you were cursed in a small time where everyone was frozen in time, you learned how to move past petty things. The two of them had somehow managed to find a tiny bit of happiness in misery and Seraphina knew that both of them wouldn't risk losing that over a minor misunderstanding.

Finding some shoes and a warm jacket, Seraphina made her way out of the house and slowly began the walk into town and as she made her way from the house – or rather Jefferson's mansion, Seraphina started to feel a lot better. Her and Jefferson didn't tend to venture out of the house much, there was something tedious about having conversations with people who would never remember having them that made the two of them weary about coming into town. Because of the curse everyone was stuck and unaware of the restraints that were on them. Occasionally the two of them left the house to venture into town but mostly it was Seraphina who went if they needed something given that Jefferson tended to be preoccupied with something be it, attempting to make another portal jumping hat or plotting Storybrooke yet again on a map in an attempt to find a way to escape or a possible loophole around the barrier that prevented them leaving to see if he had missed anything.

Seraphina had to admit that she found it impressive how far Jefferson was willing to be reunited with his daughter, willing to risk everything including his sanity in order to get Grace back. That kind of love and selflessness was incredibly and something that Seraphina sort of envied, when it came to saving people that she had cared about Seraphina had been a coward and too weak of a person to try and find way to save them all. Instead she had taken the first option given to her and she had to live with that for the rest of her life. Jefferson was so much stronger than she would ever be and Seraphina knew she was lucky to have him. She remembered the day that the two of them had met, she had been wondering around the streets of Storybook trying to figure out what the hell had happened but no one could tell her anything. Everyone seemed oblivious and then she saw him; a man who looked just as lost and alone as she was. Seraphina had found Jefferson and since then she never had a single lonely day again. The more Seraphina walked, the more she began to feel better, it was as if the fresh air was clearing her heart of all her troubles and worries. Plus the view wasn't too bad, Storybrooke was no Elysium but it was a nice enough looking place and Seraphina could think of worse places to be trapped for 28 years. But as she walked Seraphina heard something that caused her to stop in her steps, a loud chiming sound and looking over her shoulder in the direction the sound was coming from, Seraphina saw that it was coming from the cloak tower that was above the library.

That was odd. In twenty eight years that clock hadn't ticked once, the hands on the clock hadn't moved and had always read quarter past eight, it didn't matter what time of the day it was, whether it was day or night the hands never moved. It was as if the clock tower was as frozen as the inhabitants of Storybrooke were frozen. But not anymore, time was now moving. Something had to have caused it or someone. Something was changing Storybrooke for the first time in 28 years.


	2. Chapter 2

_The grief was overwhelming. In the weeks since Elysium had fallen Seraphina was barely coping, she could barely sleep and when she did, it was only for three or four hours at a time. Her actions weighed heavily on her mind constantly, no matter how hard Seraphina tried to focus on something else, her sisters were never far from her mind and with every passing day was the reminder that she would never see them again. They were gone, as was Elysium… Her home was forever was destroyed and in the aftermath of all the destruction, Seraphina had fled what remained of her home as there was nothing left there for her anymore. The palace had fallen, half of Elysium had been destroyed and what little remained of her home was better off without her. Seraphina was not fit to be queen, she had done too much damage to succeed her father as sovereign of Elysium and she could never go back, she would never go back. Elysium was gone. Seraphina had travelled across the lands and made her way over to the land of Mist Haven, she had never been there before but her father had spoken fondly of the land as it was where her mother was raised. Seraphina no longer had a home in Elysium, so the obvious choice for her was to go to her mother's former home where she spent most wondering around the woods aimlessly as there was nothing else for her to be doing. Seraphina kept herself well hidden, she made sure that she stayed out of sight because she had no interest in interacting with anyone, she just wanted to be left alone and figure out how she could repent for the sins that she had committed. So far Seraphina hadn't figured that out as she wasn't sure how she could atone for the hideous crimes that she had committed. This whole penance thing wasn't working out exactly as Seraphina had imagined it would go as Mist Haven was quite a troubled place, there was so much strife for such a vast land. But these problems were of no interest to Seraphina as matters of the state no longer concerned her anymore, as long as she didn't get involved in any thing that was going on in Mist Haven then she would be content in living out the remainder of her life on this land, living in complete isolation and begging the old gods for forgiveness. Today it seemed like they weren't in the forgiving mood as Seraphina looked out to sea from the shore, the sea was rough and the waves were crashing with a thunderous roar. It was oddly comforting to Seraphina, she felt relaxed for the first time in months and like she could stay here for hours. It was an option, Seraphina had always loved the ocean as a child, she loved the water and had a great fascination with how something could be calm and tranquil one moment, then be destructive and dangerous the next minute._

 _She had always wanted to sail to the ends of the earth but it was never possible, Seraphina's duty as one of the twelve guardians prevented her from doing that but now there was nothing standing in her way. Seraphina supposed she could do it but in her heart she knew that she would never go, everything that happened in Elysium was still too fresh in her memory and she didn't deserve to enjoy herself, at least not yet…_

 _"If I were to say to you that I am a stranger from the east, seeking that which is lost–"_

 _"–Then I would say that I am a stranger from the west, it is I whom you seek." Seraphina replied slowly turning around to see perhaps the last person she wanted to see, as the last time she had seen Rumplestilskin it had been months ago, in the time leading up to the witch Kohana's attack. Seraphina had travelled to find the man they called Rumpelstiltskin in hopes of finding a way to protect her kingdom from Kohana's pending attack. The man had been no help in the slightest, he would only agree to help if Seraphina made a deal with him and the price he was asking at the time was too steep. Seraphina had hoped that she would never see the creature known as Rumpelstiltskin again, he looked just as scaly and sickly as always, with those grey hues to him and dressed head to toe in expensive leathers but still look like he didn't put much effort into his appearance. His eyes however, always left the greatest impression on Seraphina, those amber eyes that seemed like they saw everything upside down, back to front and in a way that Seraphina would never be able to understand. Seraphina hadn't noticed the man, she had been certain that she had been alone and would have heard some one approaching but apparently not. Perhaps she was spending too much time in her own head. But then again she had always found Rumplestiltskin to be like a cockroach, repulsive and always sneaking up on you. Here he was standing on the coastline with Seraphina and tossing out another one of his riddles, Rumpelstiltskin always seemed to be fond of them and always seemed to have one up his sleeve._

 _"You're quite the difficult person to track down your majesty, always on the move, never staying in the same place for long and never leaving any trace of yourself behind. I had my work cut out with you Queen Seraphina but I expected as much, after all you were one of the twelve guardians of Elysium, the daughters of King Octavious who were sworn to protect their kingdom. I must say dearie your reputation did proceed you, until recent events occurred..."_

 _"Don't call me that! I am no queen… Now what do you want imp?" Seraphina growled as she was in no mood to play niceties with Rumplestiltskin who was perhaps the most crooked person that she had ever come across. He was always up to something, always wanting something as well and quick to be making deals that were very hard to get yourself out of, if you agreed to his terms. His reputation was as long as the amount of dodgy deals that he had made._

 _"Me? Dearie why must you assume that would want something from you? After all people come to me when they need something as you well know Princess Seraphina!" Rumplestiltskin squeaked in his typical high pitch voice and Seraphina couldn't help but roll her eyes as you could never get straight to the point with Rumplestiltskin. You always had to go round in a couple of circles before you got anywhere with him, the man took great enjoyment with toying with people as Seraphina knew from experience._

 _"Because you said so yourself Rumpelstiltskin, you've been looking for me and judging by what you've said, you've been looking for me for a while. You didn't go to all this effort to find me just so you can offer me your condolences Rumpelstiltskin, you came all this way because you need something from me. Something that you can't get from anyone else otherwise you would have tired already. The only question is; what do I have that you so desperately need?" Seraphina questioned and she watched as Rumplestiltskin awkwardly looked away briefly in a rare moment of embarrassment before returning his gaze to Seraphina or rather something that she was wearing around her neck, attached to a thin gold chain. A certain small but powerful pink orb. The Elysium Crystal. "Of course… I should have known that's what you wanted, it's always the same with you imp. I thought I told you the last time, that is the one thing that I couldn't get for you…"_

 _"Yes I remember that conversation dearie and yet here we are and you now have the Elysium Crystal in your possession so be a dear and hand it over!"_

 _"It can't be taken by force, you know that… The Elysium Crystal has to be given over freely and willingly, which I will never do. I would never hand it over to you given what little help you were to me when I came to you and killing me for it won't help you, the crystal will just go seek out a suitable new keeper which would never be you." Seraphina spat, leaving out the fact that the Elysium Crystal no longer worked, it no longer shone like it used to and for months now it has been a dull pink colour. Nothing happened when Seraphina touched it, the crystal had stopped glowing and it didn't acknowledge anything, it was like it was as dead as Elysium._

 _"What if I could change your mind dearie? What if I could offer you something that you couldn't turn down? Something that your heart so deeply desired that you would be willing to do anything for it? Even make a deal with me? What if I could bring back your sisters? All eleven of them… Would it be enough to persuade you to give me that pendent of yours? That's what you've wanted this entire time, isn't it dearie? To have your family and I'm offering you a way to have them back…" Rumpelstiltskin offered and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Seraphina's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. Could he really do that? Did Rumpelstiltskin really have the power to bring her sisters back? Could Seraphina dare to dream? Could she be reunited with her beloved sisters? It sounded wonderful, better than anything that she could ever do as whilst the Elysium Crystal was powerful, it could not bring back the dead. Seraphina would do anything to get her sisters back, Rumplestiltskin was covering to do that… But in exchange he wanted the Elysium Crystal. There was always a price, that's what Seraphina's father had told her in his last few moments, that there was a price with magic. At what cost would Seraphina have to pay to have her sisters back? Could she really in good consciousness go through with this?_

 _"No deal."_

 _"No deal? Is this not that you've wanted this entire time? Is this not why you can to me snivelling about that witch of yours and your however every many sisters? I'm offering you what you wanted Seraphina! Don't be silly, take the deal… You know you want to!"_

 _"I want to scream, I want to stand at the ends of the earth and scream until I can't breathe anymore because that would be better than what I'm dealing with. But what I want doesn't matter anymore, not after what I did… This person that I am now, the person who could only stand by and watch as her entire kingdom went up in flames does not deserve her deepest desires come true. I gave into my desires once and I had to kill my own sisters to fix the mistake that giving into my desires created. We swore to protect and defend our kingdom, to keep the Heart of Elysium safe and we failed in our duty. We failed in our mission, we failed in our roles as guardians of Elysium and I must live with that. I brought that evil to my kingdom, my selfishness almost killed us all and I have to live with that I did. What I did that dreadful night, I did without choice, in the name of peace and sanctity… I committed an act of unspeakable horror against my own kin and I must live with that choice for the rest of my life. I can't take it back. I loved my sisters and I miss them every day but the dead should remain dead. If it was possible to bring my sisters back from Valhalla then you'd bring her back as well, my sisters souls were tied to the witch Kohana's. I couldn't save my sisters without saving her; I couldn't kill her without killing my sisters. That is too much of a price to bare and I can't afford to allow that to happen, not after all the blood I spilt. I can merely hope that the souls of my beloved sisters are resting in peace as I can't be selfish again. I can't fail in my mission. My father made me the Heart of Elysium and I must not falter in my duty in keeping the Elysium Crystal safe for those who would wise to cause harm with it's power…" Seraphina replied with a heavy heart and she could see that Rumplestiltskin wasn't too happy about this._

 _"I see there is no changing your mind, your father would be proud of you if he wasn't dead. Oh well! I may not have got the Elysium Crystal and things may not have gone to plan but you exceeded all of my expectations, you survived after all…"_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"That's for me to know and you to never find out Little One."_

* * *

It was definitely moving. Time was definitely moving, that much Seraphina could see for herself as she stood outside the closed public library and stared up at the clock tower that no longer read 8:15 like it had done for the last twenty eight years. Seraphina couldn't believe what she was seeing, right before her very own eyes the hands on the clock tower were moving and she wanted to weep with joy as this was something she thought would never happen. Seraphina couldn't remember the last time she had felt something that resembled actual hope about the dire situation that she was in. Most of the residents here in Storybrooke were unaware that they never aged or changed in the slightest, they couldn't remember anything past that day but now things would change. All Seraphina wanted to do was run back home and tell Jefferson the good news, to tell him that time was moving in Stroybrooke for the first time in twenty eight years and finally things would change, people would age and regain some concept of time and that there was still hope for them yet. But before she went back to tell Jefferson, Seraphina wanted to see if she could find out what had caused time to resume here in Storybrooke, for the last twenty eight years, this place had been frozen and all of a sudden time had resumed. Seraphina didn't believe in coincidences, she didn't believe that suddenly the old clock started to work all of a sudden, something had caused time to move. Seraphina wanted to be certain of what that was before she returned home to Jefferson as she didn't want to get his hopes up, only for them to be crushed as she knew that with every passing year that this cursed continue to go on for, Jefferson was losing a little more of himself and Seraphina feared that if things carried on this way that one day his nickname of the Mad Hatter in their old world would become more than a nickname. Jefferson didn't deserve any of this, he was good man who had made some mistakes but he didn't deserve to be without his daughter. Seraphina had nothing else in this life of hers except Jefferson and she couldn't lose him, he had kept her sane this entire life and this cursed life was only bearable for her because he was by her side. However Jefferson currently wasn't by her side, in fact there was nobody was really around. Town was quiet. It was way too quiet in Storybrooke and before the curse had taken place and brought them here Seraphina had been one of those people who could function perfectly well in silence. Now? The dead silence of a sleepy little town in Maine filled to the brim with people frozen in time for the last twenty eight years, who couldn't remember who they were, simply unnerved Seraphina. She couldn't stand silence anymore, it made her feel uneasy and restless. Seraphina suspected this all stemmed back to the night Elysium fell, that dead silence that seemed to echo so loudly after she brought her kingdom to her knees was probably to blame for why she couldn't stand silence.

As she walked away from the clock tower, Seraphina's mind couldn't help but wonder to Jefferson as she had realized that the two of them had overreacted to the whole situation. That was the toll that being stuck in a town that was essentially frozen took on them and it was easy for them to become very frustrated as all they wanted to do was go home but they couldn't escape from curse prevented from them ever leaving and their last attempt to find a way out of this small town had resulted in Seraphina breaking her left leg. Things like that were typically when anyone tried to leave town, the curse that had been cast over them was done with strong magic that blocked all other magic. Jefferson's hat which acted as a portal between worlds didn't work, no matter what they tried it didn't budge and the Elysium Crystal was rendered powerless, it was even more broken then it was before Seraphina had arrived. What little magic that Seraphina and Jefferson both had didn't work in this land thus ensuring that they were to remain in this godforsaken town. Magic wasn't going to get Seraphina the information that she needed, she was going to have to go and find what she needed herself but to do that she was going to have to eat something as she didn't tend to work well on an empty stomach.

So Seraphina made the decision to head over to Granny's as the food there was pretty good and the company wasn't bad on the rare occasion that she needed a break from Jefferson. The diner had this homely feel to it and it was something that Seraphina hadn't experienced in a long time. As Seraphina approached Granny's, the door opened and out walked two people; the first was Henry Mills, Queen Regina's adopted son who seemed to be a precious young boy and the second person was someone who Seraphina hadn't seen before which was impossible as she knew the name and face of every person who lived in Storybrooke. People could never leave Storybrooke and only two separate occasions had outsiders come to Storybrooke and one of those occasions was when the queen's baby son had been brought to town. It had been decades since anyone had come to Storybrooke and yet here was this woman who long blonde hair and a red leather jacket, walking up Main Street and chatting animatedly with the young Master Mills. Something was going on here and Seraphina intended to find out. Making her way into Granny's, Seraphina scanned the room looking for anyone who could possible have any clue as to who the mystery woman was and lucky for her, Sheriff Graham Humbert was sitting in a booth having his morning coffee.

"So whose the mystery woman with Henry Mills?" Seraphina questioned sliding into the booth, take the seat that was opposite the Sheriff who rolled his blue eyes in bemusement at the sight of her.

"Good morning to you too Sera." Graham replied with a dry manner and Seraphina forced a smile on her face, so she may have skipped over the pleasantries and her mother would no doubt be turning in her grave over that but she did for a good reason. Seraphina wasn't a princess or rather a queen in this land without magic, she was just a person who trying to figure out what the hell was going on in this curse ridden land and whether or not, the clock in tower moving could be the start of finally ending this curse. If Graham wasn't unaware of his true self, if he knew what was really going on here then he would understand. But he didn't and after twenty eight years of hoping for some kind of miracle to happen, Seraphina didn't feel like offering an explanation. The time for explanations would come later.

"Yes it is a lovely day Graham and you are looking rather well today if I may say so, now that we've done our pleasantries can you please tell me who that woman was? As Sheriff, it's your job to know everything that goes on in this town." Seraphina retorted with a small quip as she leaned forward and took Graham's cup of coffee, giving it a small sniff before taking a sip. A little something shared between two friends and that's what Seraphina considered the sheriff to be; one of her friends. Their paths had crossed in Mist Haven several times, especially in the first few months that Seraphina had been there. He had been the one to show Seraphina that it was possible to live with her guilt, without it crippling her. He had been the first real friend that Seraphina had and it used to kill her that he couldn't remember their friendship. They were friends in this land too, but it was all built on a lie. The only comfort that Seraphina could take from it was that Graham was as good a man in this land as he was in the land they had come from. A lot of people here in Storybrooke were people that Seraphina was once acquainted with and it was a shame that most of them were a shadow of who they used to be.

"Emma Swan. Henry Mills' birth mother, the lad ran off the day before yesterday and went to find her and Emma brought him back." Graham explained with small smile and Seraphina had to admit that she hadn't been expecting to hear that. Of course she knew that Henry Mills was adopted, everyone in Storybrooke knew that Henry was adopted but him leaving town to bring back his birth mother was something else. Seraphina couldn't help but wonder if this was what caused the clock in the clock tower to start moving again? She wasn't sure but it could be a possibility.

"Regina must be thrilled." Seraphina drily retorted as she took note that Graham had to look away in order to not start laughing and she quietly chuckled. For someone who was ridiculously good looking, Graham had one of those faces that you could pretty much read like a book.

"Tell me about it." Graham retorted with a small smile as he reached down and lifted something up before tossing it down on the table right in front of Seraphina and she could see that it was a newspaper, the town's newspaper in fact. The Storybrooke Daily Mirror and on the front page was a mug shot of the woman that Seraphina had seen with Henry and the headline; STRANGER DESTROYS HISTORIC SIGN. It certainly wasn't subtle to say the least. Sidney Glass the editor of the paper had really outdone himself this time Seraphina couldn't help but think to herself but she knew better than to say things like that out loud. The queen had spies everywhere, even in this land without magic Regina had bent people to her a will and the last thing Seraphina needed was having the queen sniffing around and breathing down her neck.

"I take that back, Regina must be really thrilled about this development." Seraphina quipped in an exaggerated manner as she gave the front page a quick once over before tossing it aside as it contained no real information that was of use to her. She'd have to find out more about this Emma Swan person on her own. It was a good thing that Seraphina had plenty of time on her hands.

"It's good to see you out and about Sera, it's rare for me to see you as usually you are playing the recluse in the big house with that boyfriend of yours." Graham idly commented in an attempt to be subtle but he was about as subtle as an elephant. Seraphina knew where this was heading as she had lost count of the amount of times that she and Graham had this particular conversation but he of course never remembered. So many times had she explained to him that the two of them just got so caught up in their own world that they didn't realize that they had been stuck indoors for weeks at an end. That's the lie that she spun as Seraphina couldn't tell the truth, she couldn't tell Graham that her and Jefferson went out of their way to be reclusive as it was easier than having the same conversation every day with people who could never remember having that conversation in the first place. Then Jefferson was too busy working on another hat in the hopes that it would work and allow them to go home. But that was another truth that Seraphina couldn't tell as people would just think she was crazy and lock her up which was the last thing she needed.

"We got into an argument this morning, I stormed out of the house and the worse thing is I already miss him. I never imagined that I would become one of those women whose life centered around their partner but that's the way things are. I didn't know that I needed him, I didn't know that I would find him but I did and he got under my skin and made his way to my heart. He loves me at my worse, he haunts my every waking moment and I can never hide from him. We love with a love that was more than love..." Seraphina woefully admitted with a dramatic sigh as right now she was feeling rather sorry for herself. She didn't have the answers to all her questions and she was still feeling bad about what had happened with Jefferson this morning. He was the only real thing that Seraphina had in her life as she no family left, her real friends was certainly something that was about for debate given the situation that she was in.

"So go and apologize then." Graham reasoned and Seraphina just shook her head.

"It's not that simple."

"It can be. You know… The two of you have been together for pretty much forever, I don't think I can remember a time where the two of you weren't together. Why don't the two of you just go ahead and get married, you already act like an old married couple." Graham stated and Seraphina grimaced in response as that was a rather frightening prospect, she was in no way qualified to become anyone's wife her views on marriage were somewhat questionable. Marriage was something that Seraphina had never really given much thought, as a girl she didn't grow up dreaming of wedding and imagining that she would be swept off her feet by some prince who would marry her and their life would be complete. Back when she was still in Elysium, Seraphina had too many things to focus on to even think about getting marriage and even then it wasn't like she had to worry about getting married for the sake of the kingdom's future, she had been 11th in line to her throne, right behind all of her sisters who had all been older than her. It was her father's passing and then the death of her sisters at her own hands that had made her Queen of Elysium but Seraphina didn't focus on that. She didn't consider herself to be a queen and she most certainly never thought about getting married, especially to The Mad Hatter of all people. Seraphina and Jefferson had found each other by chance and they had become the kind of people who lived their lives on a day to day basis. Talk of the future was non existent for them.

"We're not the getting married kind of people, if you hadn't noticed we are not the love at first sight and happily ever after couple. Far from it actually…" Seraphina replied in a dull and monotone manner although there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she thought about how far her and Jefferson had come. Seraphina hadn't fallen in love with him at first sight, in fact she hadn't been too keen on the man she referred to as her partner when they first met. She hadn't seen him and knew that Jefferson was the man she was wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Things between them took time, three years in fact given how emotionally stunted both Seraphina and Jefferson could be at times, it was a wonder how they had managed to get to where they were now.

"Have you always been such a pessimist? Because I'll tell you something now Seraphina Hart, it's very unattractive." Graham drawled in his near perfect Irish accent which caused Seraphina to let out a bemused smile as she rose from her seat, making sure to take the previously discarded newspaper with her. "Going so soon? Is it something I've said?"

"You wish." Seraphina replied in a wry manner before making her way out of Granny's pausing as she reached the door to take one last look at the place. You wouldn't know just by looking at the people in this room that they were the real people that the so-called fairy tales in this land were based on. These fairy tales where what people in this land without magic told their foundlings, they were stories based on what happened in their world only with slight modifications. Sheriff Graham was a hunter back in Mist Haven but in these so-called fairy tales, he was the Huntsman in a tale called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Most of the story was true to what really happened but it missed out some minor details. Such as Queen Regina stealing Graham's heart and forcing him to work for her. Then there was Ruby, the waitress here at the Diner who was charming enough, her name was a bit of a hint as to who she really was; Red Riding Hood however Ruby's past wasn't as sweet and homely as the stories made it out to be given that Ruby was also 'The Big Bad Wolf' from her own story but she never did eat her Granny, in fact her Granny was right beside her at this current moment, the two of them were arguing over something which was nothing new. None of them remembered this, they had no idea that these fairy tales were a watered down version of their former lives. Seraphina wasn't impressed with how her past was represented, in the story of 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' Seraphina and her sisters were discovered by a soldier who told their father the truth and presented him with some evidence and was allowed to pick any of King Octavius' daughters to marry. In the end he had picked the eldest one. It was hilarious as Seraphina knew that her eldest sister Aina would have objected at some man picking her randomly to be his bride like she was some kind of stuffed animal. Just thinking of that made Seraphina miss her sisters fiercely and it caused her to look down to her left wrist, specifically the inked number that was etched in the curve between her thumb and index finger. The number was 306; the number of people who had died that night in Elysium including her family and Kohana.

Nostalgia was really playing with Seraphina today and she really wished it wasn't as it was hard enough for her to get up every morning living in a cursed down without dreaming of her former life. It seemed like the old gods had really sought to punish Seraphina for her actions and the nights when Seraphina was reliving the fall of Elyisum in her dreams was the worst of it all, that night had never faded away in her memory, it was so fresh in her memory as if it had happened yesterday. But it hadn't, Elysium had fallen over thirty two years ago. Seraphina had been twenty one when her kingdom had fallen, she had then been wondering the woods in Mist Haven for four years before the curse had been cast bringing them all to Stroybrooke where they had all been for the last twenty eight years. Seraphina still looked like she twenty five instead of her real age of being fifty three years old. The whole being frozen in time thing had taken care of that. Seraphina had barely walked five meters away from Granny's before she had to stop and take a deep breath in order to calm herself down, to stop her mind from continuing to race a million miles per hour. Today had barely began but it had already been so intense and Seraphina didn't know what to do. She was clueless about how to connect the dots and figure out what to do.

"Ms. Hart, may I have a word?"

That voice. Upon hearing that oh so familiar voice Seraphina couldn't help but grimace as she turned around to look at the last person she wanted to see today; it was Rumplestiltskin or rather his Storybrooke self Mr. Gold. In this world he wasn't the Dark One due to the curse bringing him along to the land without magic. Here in Storybrooke Rumplestiltksin was just Mr. Gold, a wealthy man who pretty much owned most of town. Gold acted as a lawyer and an antiquities dealer. There was no first name for him here, Mr. Gold never bothered to offer one. Rumplestiltskin was just as vague and allusive as he was before the curse had been cast. Given who Mr. Gold really was, Seraphina had made a huge attempt over the last 28 years to avoid spending anytime in the man's company as even though wasn't the Dark One in this land, he was still wasn't to be trusted.

"Oh Mr. Gold, how lovely it is to see you but I must really be heading home, I have an awful lot of work to be doing today. Could we talk later?" Seraphina offered forcing a smile on her face to look like she was being polite as getting involved with Rumplestiltkin had always gotten her into trouble in the past and she wanted to avoid that. Even though he had no magic here, the imp as Seraphina liked to call him was still going around making deals with people.

"I'm afraid I must insist, your majesty." Mr. Gold replied in a curt manner leaving no room to argue and the forced smile that Seraphina had been putting on for appearance sake instantly dropped. _Your Majesty._ That's what Gold had just called her, he had just referred to her royal lineage by addressing her as a queen. Every time that Seraphina had come across Rumplestiltskin in Mist Haven he always addressed her by your majesty despite her asking him repeatedly not to address her as the sovereign of Elysium.

"What did you just call me Mr. Gold?" Seraphina hoarsely questioned praying like hell to the old gods of Elysium that this was some kind of mistake. There was no way that Rumplestiltskin could remember who he was, there was only three people here who had all their memories intact and knew the truth and Rumplestiltskin wasn't one of them. Seraphina that there was no way in hell that Gold had known this entire time and had been feigning ignorance, not for twenty eight years. Rumplestiltskin/Gold were good liars but they weren't that good. Nobody could keep an act like that for twenty eight years.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that I must first address you as Your Majesty when engaging you in conversation with a reigning monarch and I think we both know why I did that and we both know that my name isn't Mr. Gold. Isn't that right Seraphina?" Mr. Gold replied in a rather sarcastic manner and Seraphina bit her tongue momentarily before looking around to see if anyone was around, thankfully there was no one remotely close to hear any of this.

"You know, I'm rather unimpressed that it took you this long to remember… I would have thought that the Dark One would have been immune to this curse or at least figured it all out years ago but apparently I overestimated you. I won't make that same mistake again. But why now? You've had no clue about any of this for the last twenty eight years and now you've suddenly remembered. Why? I find it very coincidental that you've got your memories back the same time that the old clock tower began to tick again. What did you do?" Seraphina retorted in a despairing manner as dealing with the imp was not something that she wanted to be doing. But she couldn't ignore the fact that Rumplestiltskin was aware of their reality.

"Unlike you, Queen Regina saw fit to make sure that I didn't remember anything and as to why I'm suddenly 'aware' I'm flattered that you think that this was all my doing but my memories returning to me and time starting to move again in Storybrooke isn't down to me. It's down to somebody else. Emma."

"Emma? Henry Mills' birth mother? Her…" Seraphina questioned as she held up the newspaper for Rumplestiltskin to see Emma's mug shot on the front page of the local paper. Now Seraphina was really confused, Emma was the first person to come to Storybrooke in years and now time was moving again, Rumplestiltskin had his memories back and judging by what he had just implied, Emma coming here was responsible for everything that was going on. It just begged several question as to who Emma was connected to all of this.

"You don't know do you…" Rumplestiltskin questioned with a self satisfactory smile on his face and Seraphina knew that it was going to kill her on the inside to get an answer from the man. But she was going to have to swallow her pride.

"Know what imp?"

"It's going to costs you dearie."

"Why am I not surprised? So what do you want Rumplestiltskin?" Seraphina questioned in exasperation as the last thing she wanted to be doing was making a deal with Rumplestiltskin. His reputation for making deals proceeded him and Seraphina knew that this was going to cost her a lot but she needed to know what he knew.

"A favor. I'm going to need you to do something for me in the future and your going to do it with no questions asked, is that clear?" Rumplestiltskin stated and Seraphina didn't like the sound of it in the slightest, it was all vague and cryptic which made the possibilities of what Rumplestiltskin wanted her to do for him in the future endless.

"Fine… And here I thought you were going to be stupid enough to ask my crystal again." Seraphina replied in a bored tone of voice.

"You've made it clear that you won't given up the Elysium Crystal and besides I'm no longer interested in it given it's useless here thanks to Regina and her curse. But hopefully that won't remain the case for much longer since Emma is now in Storybrooke, the saviour returned on her 28th birthday just like I foretold and things are going to get very interesting, just look what's happened already." Rumplestiltskin stated and Seraphina sighed as she still had no clue as to what the man was going on about, this why she hated dealing with Rumplestiltskin as he never got straight to the point. He was always one for theatrics and spent forever beating around the bust.

"Are you telling that Emma can break the curse? Henry's birth mother is the key to all of us being free again? Her coming to Storybrooke is why time has reumed?" Seraphina question, daring herself to hope for even a brief moment.

"That is exactly what I'm am telling you Queen Seraphina, Emma Swan is more than the birth mother of Henry Mills, she is the child of Snow White and her Prince Charming, a product of true love and the saviour. She is the key to the dark curse being broken…"

As soon as Seraphina heard Rumplestiltskin state that Emma was the key to breaking the curse she stopped listening, she was unable to listen anymore as she was so overcome with emotion that her mind just went blank. This curse, this these twenty eight years of hell would be coming to an end. There was a saviour who could save them all and finally put an end to this nightmare. The curse would be broken. _Jefferson._ Seraphina's mind was instantly filled with the person most important to her, the person who was always on her mind and had been by her side though all of this. She needed to tell him, Jefferson needed to know that soon this would all be over. Not caring for niceties, Seraphina left Rumplestiltskin and began to run, she wanted to tell Jefferson as soon as possible and so she ran. The distance to their house wasn't too far but that didn't matter as Seraphina would have run a hundred miles in order tell Jefferson the news. He had been trying so hard to break this curse on his own, to find a way to be reunited with Grace again. Seraphina ran as fast as she could, not caring that she was getting slightly out of breath because nothing was going to stop her. Everything that had been working towards was now right in front of them. Seraphina ran up the driveway, awkwardly stumbling with the door before all but falling over the threshold. She shouted as loud as she could, she yelled for Jefferson as she ran through rooms trying to find him. He wasn't in the living, he wasn't in the kitchen. There was a possibility that he could be upstairs but then Seraphina's mind wondered off to the one room in the entire house that she spent little time in but Jefferson spent most of his time in. _The workroom._

Seraphina made her way down the hallways, ignoring everything around her accidently knocking over a lamp but she didn't care. This entire house was pretty much a huge reference to their former lives, it had always drove Seraphina mad but now? It was a reminder of what they were going to go home to. In what seemed to be like hours but only a few minutes, Seraphina came face to face with Jefferson who was walking out of his workroom, no doubt coming to see what all the noise was about. Seraphina blurted the words out, she said the words that they had been hoping to hear for so many years; that the curse was going to be broken. Seraphina had said the words but Jefferson hadn't reacted, he was looking at her as if she had lost her mind. He had this sad and worried look on his face, it was pretty much the same expression that Jefferson had greeted her with this morning. Seraphina didn't understand.

Why wasn't Jefferson reacting to what she had told him? This was the news that he had been dreaming of ever since they had arrived in Storybrooke. Seraphina didn't understand, all she could see was Jefferson walking towards her. He stopped right in front of her and he lifted his arms up and it was only he used his thumbs to wipe her face that Seraphina understood. She was crying.

"Sera… Seraphina, what's wrong? I can't understand what your saying, I need you to take a deep breathe and tell me what's happened." Jefferson asked in soft manner as he continued to brush away Seraphina's tears. She must have been more overwhelmed that she thought, Seraphina hadn't realized that she was crying, Jefferson probably hadn't a single word she had said to him because she was such a mess right now. The tears and all the running must have made everything she had said incomprehensible for Jefferson to understand. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry or even scream but Seraphina knew that she just had to get the words out of her mouth.

"The curse. It's going to be broken, we're going to be saved…"


	3. Chapter 3

A pounding headache. That was the first thing that Seraphina was aware of as she wearily opened her eyes and much to her surprise she found herself laying on her desk, using whatever obscure book she had been reading as some kind of pillow. She couldn't even remember falling asleep, Seraphina hadn't even intended on sleeping but clearly she must have fallen asleep at some point given that she had just woken with her face lying in some book on rocks and geology. Forcing herself to sit up Seraphina wearily rubbed her eyes before glancing over her shoulder and over at the clock hanging on the wall that read 9:07am, as best to her recollection Seraphina could recall still being awake sometime in the 4am region so she had only been asleep for a few hours. The half empty bottle of scotch explained the headache. The fact that she awake to see another day just made Seraphina miserable as there was a huge part of her that so desperately wished that if she went to sleep then she would never wake up again, that she could be finally free from the hell that she was living. But that clearly never happened, so Seraphina had yet another miserable day to live through and so she wearily got up from her seat and skulked out of the library – the room she spent most of her time in – and made her way through the house and to the kitchen. The more she shuffled around the house, the worse Seraphina's headache was getting and the music certainly wasn't helping with it and naturally it was all her fault, mostly for the drinking until she passed out. But there was also the music, in the house there was always some kind of music playing in the background to ease Seraphina's discomfort, it drove Jefferson mad at first as he couldn't concentrate on his work with the constant playing of music but after a while he had learned to live with it for Seraphina's sake. Speaking of Jefferson, there was no sign of him anywhere in the slightest within the house and Seraphina couldn't hear him working away in his workshop which meant he was probably lurking around somewhere upstairs or he had gone out although she suspected it was the former rather than the latter. It wasn't very often that Jefferson ventured out so he was most likely upstairs. Just thinking about Jefferson made Seraphina's heart ache as he had taken the news about time moving once again in Storybrooke and the possibility of the curse being broke by this mysterious Emma Swan character, in a rather difficult manner. The news had pretty much sent Jefferson into overdrive trying to figure out a way to get them back home. The news that time was moving in Storybrooke and there was a good chance that the curse was going to be broken because the arrival of this mysterious Emma Swan according to good old Rumplestiltskin, had done a real number on Jefferson. It had almost driven him to the breaking point and almost seemed make the Mad Hatter even more madder than usual. Seraphina hadn't seen Jefferson so excited over something in such a long time and she was glad to see him so upbeat but at the same time it did worry her.

Dragging her hungover ass back through the lower half of the house, Seraphina made her way to the staircase and slowly forced herself up them. Given how crappy she was feeling all Seraphina wanted to do was go to her bed and sleep for the rest of the day but that wasn't possible as time was no longer frozen here anymore, time was now moving which meant that time couldn't be wasted any longer. Plus they had already lost twenty eight years and Seraphina was certain that Jefferson wouldn't be able to hold out being without Grace for a further twenty eight years. After everything the two of them had been through together, Seraphina owed it to Jefferson to make sure that he was reunited with his daughter. At least one of them deserved to be happy. It took a bit of time but eventually Seraphina reached the top of the staircase where she almost walked into Jefferson, who was coming out from the direction of the bathroom.

"I'm surprised to see you up, I didn't think you would wake up for another few hours at least." Jefferson began, not hiding his surprise that she was up and walking about and Seraphina just grimaced as she was feeling less than fresh this morning, whilst Jefferson looked fresh as a daisy. He was suited and booted as per usual whilst Seraphina could smell the alcohol coming through her pores. Clearly their nights had both went a different way.

"That would suggest I actually fell asleep, I think I passed out." Seraphina replied with a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose as her headache just seemed to be getting worse the longer she stood up. She was going to have sit down for a bit and chug down a huge amount of coffee before she started to feel like herself again. Drinking herself into a drunken stupor until she passed out had been a very bad idea and Seraphina was now paying the price for her antics last night. She was going to have to lay off the scotch for a few days at least as she couldn't remember the last time she was this hungover. Seraphina's head was a mess, her mouth felt dry and she was certain that she could feel the alcohol swirling around in her stomach. Even though she hadn't seen her appearance, Seraphina could only assume that she looked as bad as she felt. For someone who was a Queen, Seraphina certainly didn't act like it in the slightest, she was a shadow of the person who she used to be before the curse and Kohana had happened. No longer was she one of the twelve guardian princesses of Elysium, swore to defend her kingdom and protect the Heart of Elysium. That had all come to an end a long time ago, all Seraphina was right now was barely functional drunken mess. She couldn't help but think it was a good thing that Elysium had fallen to the ground as if it still stood, it would probably crumble at the sight of it's supposed queen.

"Probably a good thing, you were a bit of a mess." Jefferson noted and Seraphina grimaced as that didn't sound good at all, but given how the house was still in one piece, she took some comfort in the fact that she hadn't managed to destroy another one of her homes. Still to this day Seraphina carried around the scars that had come with destroying her kingdom. Despite how much time had passed, Seraphina knew that the wounds within her heart would never really heal. Even if it were possible, she would never be able to forgive herself for what had happened that night. It was the guilt over her actions that allowed her to keep living.

"I didn't do the crying thing, did I?"

Seraphina didn't know whether or not she wanted to know the answer and yet she still found herself asking the question, she supposed knowing the truth would stop her from obsessing in her head over what kind of state she was in last night. One of the biggest problems that Seraphina had was a tendency to other think things, and for the last twenty-eight years, being frozen in time and left with a whole lot of time on her hands hadn't done much good for Seraphina. That had left her a lot of time to other think things, at one point Seraphina wasn't sure who the so-called 'mad one' was out of her and Jefferson. There had been a lot of dark times over the years for her as well as him and living in this frozen hell of a place had only made things worse. There was no escape from this place and everything that Seraphina had done which had resulted in her ending up in Storybrooke in the first place.

"No. You were just very affectionate and you told me you loved me."

Now Seraphina really wished that she hadn't asked Jefferson as she now she felt more awkward than hungover, sorely wishing that she was still passed out in the library. Somebody once said, Seraphina wasn't sure but they had said something about curiosity killing a cat. It made no real sense to Seraphina as all her curiosity made her want to do was crawl into a dark hole and never come out again. It seemed like her curiosity was only good for getting herself into some kind of trouble and it wasn't the kind of trouble that she could talk herself out of back when she was still a child. Everything used to be so simple back then. Now she was older and things were a whole lot more complicated and she could no longer run away from difficult situations. If she tried to run away, Seraphina knew that there was a highly probable chance that Jefferson would come running after her. Twenty-eight years together had kind of made them rather attached to one another.

"It's not like you didn't already know that." Seraphina replied after a few moments of silence, feeling rather lightheaded all of a sudden and she wasn't sure if it was down to her being dehydrated or due to the embarrassment she was feeling, and she was indeed feeling it as her cheeks felt red hot and flushed like the hotness of a very warm summer day. Talking about her emotions wasn't exactly a strong point of Seraphina's, it hadn't been for a very long time. Losing her family and being the 'sole' survivor of the destruction that had come to Elysium had taken a huge toll on Seraphina and being alone for so long after that terrible night had caused her to shut down. It had all been too painful. The grief had been so overwhelming that Seraphina had to force herself not to feel anything anymore, she had sealed away her heart in order to make the burden of living without everyone she had ever known and loved bearable. She wasn't looking for love at all, Seraphina had been raised as a warrior and been taught from as long as she could remember that duty came before affairs of the heart. Seraphina had been content in wallowing in her grief until this curse came along and stuck her in Storybrooke where she was essentially all alone for the most part. There was nobody in this hell hole who understood what she was going through, or at least so she thought. It had been 5 days since the curse had struck that Seraphina had found The Mad Hatter and it wasn't love at first sight. No, things were a little more complicated than that and Seraphina wasn't sure whether she had fallen in love with him because he was the only other person here in Storybrooke who had all their memories and understood what she was going through, or because she found herself falling in love with his strength of character, devotion to his family and rugged good looks despite being called the Mad Hatter. These last twenty eight years had been so long that Seraphina couldn't recall when she realized that she was in love with Jefferson, or if their bizarre friendship had turned into something more over the years. All that she really knew was that she loved the eccentric man standing right in front of her and that having Jefferson by her side for all these years had brought her out of black hole that she never thought she would ever be able to escape.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about it Sera."

"Says the person who only had to hear it." Seraphina couldn't help but retort in response, before feebly running her head through her hair. As of the current moment, Seraphina was very much rethinking all the major life decisions she had made in the last few days, especially the drinking. That was something she was going to have to put on hold for a while as there was no way Seraphina could attempt to try and drink herself into an early grave when the curse was so close to being broke. The arrival of Emma Swan, the savior who was supposed to break this horrendous curse and save them all meant that everything was going change. Things were no longer going to be the same and that meant facing up to things Seraphina wasn't quite ready to deal with. After all this time running away from her past and responsibilities, it looked like the two of them were finally catching up to her. It was true what everybody said about being unable to outrun your past. For Seraphina, her trial by fire was soon approaching but she didn't have a date for it, all she knew was that it was coming and there was nothing she could do except wait for it come and return to Elysium once and for all once the curse was broken. That thought alone scared Seraphina more than the twenty eight years that she had had been stuck with nothing to do in a small town in Maine.

"Would you like me to say it back?" Jefferson questioned, bringing Seraphina back from the deep corners of her mind in which she had wondered off. But already it was too late, the knots had already started to form in Seraphina's stomach as she thought about everything that she had run away from, everything that she had tried so hard to forget during her time away from her kingdom. The Seraphina who stood here now, was a far cry from the Princess Seraphina of Elysium who she used to be, or rather Queen Seraphina. Upon the death of her father and eleven sisters, the crown of Elysium had fallen onto Seraphina's shoulders whether or not she liked it.

Seraphina ruefully shook her head, she didn't need to hear what she already knew, that Jefferson loved her despite everything that she had said and done over the years. This handsome man standing before her with a glint in his blue eyes was the kindest man that Seraphina had come across in all her years of loneliness, Jefferson had given her a home when she had none, given her a purpose to survive living in the hell that they had been trapped in. He had given her so many things over the years, things that she would never be able to repay him for. Seraphina wanted to say to Jefferson that she was worry, there was this tremendous need within herself to apologize for all the time that she had wasted. But at the same time Seraphina wanted to thank him. It was all rather confusing and Seraphina wanted to blame her confused head and her even more confused heart on her hangover but she knew that wasn't behind why she was feeling so damn guilty. With the possibility of the curse being broken looming over their heads, Seraphina knew that she would need to tell Jefferson the truth soon. He needed to know the dark secret that Seraphina had been carrying with her for the last twenty eight years.

"Jefferson‒"

"Can I show you something Sera? It's something that I've been working on and it's not finished yet, I was going to surprise you with it when I finished. But as you look like you could use come cheering up, it's as good a time as any."

"When you put it that way, I suppose I can't say no to your request." Seraphina weekly replied and Jefferson smiled with a broad grin on his face, holding out his hand for her to take. His eyes seemed bright and truly alive for the first time in years and Seraphina couldn't bare to ruin his happiness at this current time, she needed to tell him the truth of course, and she would. But just not now.

The whole truth about the Battle of Elysium could wait for a few more days. She had kept it from Jefferson for twenty eight years, a few more days couldn't do any more harm. He had lost so much and after everything that Jefferson had been through, the last thing Seraphina wanted to do was cause him more pain since. He was pretty much her reason for living these days. A long time ago Seraphina's sole reason for living was her mission to protect Elysium from all outside threats and ensure the Heart of Elysium never fell into the wrong hands and on fronts she had failed. It broke Seraphina's heart to admit it but she had unwittingly allowed a outside threat to sneak into Elysium. The twelve guardian princesses' had been raised to watch for any threats but they could have never foreseen that they would become the outside threat they had sworn to keep out of their father's kingdom. Seraphina had failed in her mission and in by doing that she had also failed to stop the Heart of Elysium from falling into the wrong hands; her hands. Instinctively Seraphina's right hand reached for the chain around her neck where the Elysium Crystal sat, the powerful crystal was no longer what it used to be, Seraphina was certain that she somehow managed to protect the all powerful crystal as it was essentially rendered useless. These days, it was just a pretty pink stone that doubled as decorative jewelry.

Seraphina looked at Jefferson outstretched hand and it didn't take her long to take the offered hand, despite how miserable she was feeling today because of the trouble of own making, she was intrigued to see what her Mad Hatter had to show her. The idea of walking back down the stairs that she had struggled to walk up only minutes earlier was a daunting prospect to Seraphina but the way Jefferson was holding her hand, seemed like he would never let go. Her hand felt incredibly tiny in Jefferson's own and as Seraphina slightly staggered as the two of them descended the stairs, she felt rather safe. She knew Jefferson's hand rather well, his hands despite having callouses from all the work that he did with his hands were the ones that wiped away her tears when she was sad, they gently brushed over own knuckles when they lay in bed together. After being touched countless times by them countless times, Seraphina knew that the hands of the person she loved, had been engrained in her heart. It was like these hands were made to love her.

Wordless allowing Jefferson to lead her down the stairs and throughout the house, Seraphina wasn't too surprised to be led into the workroom as after all, it was the room that Jefferson spent most of his time in. The bright lights of the workroom immediately made Seraphina grimace and shield her eyes, being hungover was really not helping her case today. It took a few moments for her to forcefully allow her eyes to adjust but once they had, Seraphina couldn't help but allow herself to take a look around the room. She didn't allow herself to come into this room, perhaps over the last decade Seraphina had ventured into the workroom maybe half a dozen times? The exact number she wasn't too sure of. The reason why Seraphina never came in? Simply because this room was where Jefferson came to work, it was where he spent every waking moment pouring his heart and soul finding his way to break the curse and let them go home. She liked to give him his privacy to work in peace, so for Seraphina to come into Jefferson's inner sanctum was like a little treat. All over the room on shelves that illuminated bright lights sat countless hats that Jefferson had made over the years. Every single one of these hats Jefferson had made in an effort to use as portal to get them home and they had all failed. No matter what he did, nothing seemed to work and Jefferson kept them as a reminder of his failure. Seraphina could never understand why he saw them as failures as each hat was as beautiful as the next, Jefferson's skills as a milliner were unparalleled, Seraphina doubted that there was anyone in all the lands whose skills could match those of the Mad Hatter. It showed on the large table that sat in the middle of the room, countless tools were sprawled across the table along with an assortment of materials that Seraphina had zero idea how they managed to make such beautiful hats.

"We don't know how long it's going to take for this Emma person to break the curse, so I thought I would keep at it as once the curse is broken we're going to need some way to get back home." Jefferson began as he let go of Seraphina's hand and walked over to the furthest end of the table sat a top hat that was different to all the other hats in the work shop. It was only half made and there was a a subtle amount of silver tulle scattered around it but the hat itself was of a remarkable design and Seraphina couldn't take her eyes away from it as it was perhaps the most spectacular hat she had ever seen. The fabric was a deep navy colour, almost black with a pattern of silver filigree. It was honestly unlike anything Seraphina had ever seen before. "What do you think Sera? It's a work in progress…"

"It's wonderful, truly wonderful. That's what I think."

"This is the one Sera, I can feel it! When the curse is broken I know that this hat is going to be the one that will take us away from Storybrooke. Once I have Grace back, then the three of us can leave and never come back again, we can go home and the three of us can have the happy ending that we were always meant to have!" Jefferson stated, the excitement clear as day in his voice and Seraphina could all but see the happiness that he was radiating and instead of being happy like she knew she was supposed to be, she just felt sick to her stomach. Honestly, all Seraphina wanted to do was throw up and she wasn't sure whether or not this was down to the hangover or because of the fact that Jefferson was talking about them going home and having a happy ending, when Seraphina knew that she wasn't destined to have either of them.

"I can't go back..." Seraphina blurted out, unable to help the words from flying out of her mouth before she even knew what she was doing. From the moment they came out, Seraphina wanted to stake them back and stuff them down her throat where they could be long forgotten but she couldn't. It was too late as Jefferson had heard them and was now looking back at her with this incredulous look on his face. All the happiness that had been on his face mere moments ago were long gone and it seemed like the colour had been drained from him entirely.

"Seraphina…"

"It's not what you think Jefferson, even though we've been trapped in Storybrooke for all these years, the truth of the matter is that I've still been running away from my past! There are things I've done which I haven't told you about, things so unforgiveable which mean that there is no happy ending for me. I will do everything I can to help you get Grace back and help you to return home but I don't know if I can go back myself. Going back means returning to Elysium and I can't do that. I keep telling myself that what I did that night in Elysium was for the sake of peace and sanity but as the years go on, I know that was a lie. One of the last things my father told me before he died was that the Heart of Elysium follows the heart of she who would become queen. But ever since that night, the Heart of Elysium has become dull and lifeless because of me." Seraphina woefully admitted, her eyes starting to brim with tears and her almighty headache starting to get even worse with every passing second

"I don't understand, what are you talking about Seraphina?" Jefferson demanded, his brows furrowing together and Seraphina felt herself struggling to keep herself together. This was what she wanted to avoid entirely but her big fat mouth had opened itself up and Seraphina could run away from this.

Seraphina couldn't help but look away, she couldn't look Jefferson in the eye as she told him the remainder of what happened the night Elysium fell. "My father told me that the only way for me to save Elysium was to destroy Kohana, but doing that meant I would also kill my sisters in the process. I had to commit an act of great evil to save my kingdom and I did… After I did it, Elysium fell silent but I knew it would not last as even though many had died, even more had been injured in the attacks. I had just killed my sisters and I was expected to become the queen of Elysium. I was never meant to be queen, I always knew that growing up… The crown was always meant to be passed on to Vega. I didn't want any of that, so using what little strength I had left. I used the Elysium Crystal to cast a spell over the kingdom."

"What kind of spell?" Jefferson asked through gritted teeth and Seraphina sighed as she knew that he wasn't going to like this in the slightest.

"A sleeping spell… Anyone who survived the attack are lying in a state of dormancy, it was never supposed to be this way Jefferson. The Elysium everyone knew was forever destroyed, so many had died and there was so much chaos that I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know how fix things. So I cast a spell that would put them all to sleep and it was that spell that used what remained of the Elysium Crystal's power. It wasn't supposed to last forever but then the curse was cast… I'm a coward who ran away from where I should have been, where I'm supposed to be but I wasn't strong enough. I know that doesn't make me any better than Regina but I didn't know how fix things, I didn't know how to be the queen my father needed me to. I still don't know. I can't go back because I don't know how fix any of the damage I've caused. It's why I ended up here Storybrooke because there is always a price to pay with magic." Seraphina grimly replied as she wiped her eyes in a hurried manner as it was bad enough that she was having this conversation with Jefferson whilst she was hungover, without crying her eyes out like some big baby.

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Jefferson demanded and the anger was just what Seraphina had expected. He would never forgive her for this. Not that she could blame him for it. There were just something you couldn't forgive.

"Because I wanted you to love me."


End file.
